Glenfarclas 17 Year

Definitely reminds me of Christmas. A bit on the sweeter side of my preference but enough spice and nuance to still make me want to buy it again. Mouthfeel is great and too easy to drink.

I should have reviewed this long ago. It's been in solid rotation in my liquor closet for about 3 years now. This bottle is 2/3 full and has been open for a few months. The pour is tasted neat from a glencairn. The color of this whisky reminds me of my son's rose gold trombone. On the nose this is sherry forward, rich, fruity and brassy over a frame of malty barley. The nose is splashy in an enjoyable technicolor way. Slightly complex, I find the aromas in the glass to be fully enjoyable. On the palate this comes off as tamer than its nose might suggest. The sherry is forward, its a bomb. Mouthfeel is rich, creamy even. There is very little ethanol heat, but there's a touch of cinnamon red hots on the mid palate. There's a really nice basket of orchard fruits ripe for exploration and enough complexity to keep one's attention for the full dram. There's a nice blush of wood and the malt comes in towards the mid and back palate. I also get some walnuts and sweet orange marmalade. The finish is short, sweet and warming. I like this Highland malt a lot. It's very easy to like. There's really nothing off-putting and overall this is just as tasty as I could ask for a sweet, fruity, friendly quaff. Nicely done. I rate on a simple scale where 1 = something I hope to not taste again and 5 = I can stop looking now because it's as good as good gets. I think most products follow a bell curve with the average mass market solution falling into a 2 to 3 range. Glenfarclas 17 is far better than that. This belongs between 3.75 and 4.0 .

This is a thick one full of vanilla oak, mixed fruit, and a bit of burnt leather. Very balanced and complex.